So, as those of you who keep in somewhat regular touch with me may have heard, I undertook a vast organization of my iTunes catalog. I found release dates, I tracked down album art, and basically assured that everything in my library had the information that I might consider of interest. Most of you would say "wow, you're a geek, devoting a few hours to double-checking your music library." Well, you'd be partially correct. Yes, I am a geek. Very much so, thank you. However, the degree of this geekiness goes a little deeper than some of you might realize. I didn't spend a few hours on this project; I spent a few days. I burned lean tissue into the night to track down some of this stuff. I have obscure music. I have random bootlegs. I have old discs that aren't usually available online anywhere. Plus, I have a TON of music. "Now Bill, don't go exaggerating" some of you might say, but I assure you I am not exaggerating. This music library I waded through consists of 28.2 days worth of music. That's right. I could hit play on February first, and when I stumble home the night of my birthday, I would never have heard a song repeated throughout the entire month. This collection spans over forty gigs of memory, and is currently six songs shy of reaching the twelve thousand mark. I am a geek. I am a hoarder of music. I have everything from Bach organ overtures to The Roots, from A-Ha to Zoot Sims. It goes far and wide.
Now, after undertaking such a project, you might expect me to write a blog about my need to hoard music. You might expect me to write about how I need to pare down my CDs, or even to how I may die with CDs or songs in my collection that I have never heard. Alas, you'd be wrong. Instead, I will be spreading my love of music. Going through this epic list of songs has made me remember some WONDERFUL music that I haven't heard in ages.
* First and foremost, let me say this: modern jazz can't hold a torch to anything put out before 1970. It's amazing -- old Charles Mingus, Chet Baker, anything with Wes Montgomery; these guys put out an ASTOUNDING number of records, all of which are phenomenal. With modern music, jazz or otherwise, you're doing good if you can put out five albums that maintain artistic integrity throughout. Most of these guys have ten-plus gold records, plus allllll the albums which they were part of a supporting band for.
* Another interesting realization: lots of newer indie music is absurd. Sometimes that is a good thing. Sometimes it is not. I'm fascinated by bands like Explosions in the Sky, who are a band that I enjoy, who can put out albums of songs that range from five to thirteen minutes in length, all instrumental, that people are riveted by. It has long been the consternation of the surf community that the general population doesn't like instrumental music because they don't have the attention span. Despite the fact that most surf songs don't ever scratch four minutes. How can you explain it? How about the recent anachronistic trend of some of these bands? The Ditty Bops sing songs that sound like they came out of the bubblegum pop sounds of the 1940s. Circus Contraption sounds exactly like you'd imagine them to based on the band name. The Dresden Dolls remind me of everything that high school drama kids have been singing since they discovered musicals. It just seems that a lot of indie music these days is trying to push the envelope right off the table. For instance, Fleet Foxes, who are a pretty awesome band recommended to me by a friend. They call their music "baroque harmonic pop jams." Does anyone out there even know what that means? It's fascinating, and it's more musical than a lot of stuff that's coming out, but do people that haven't taken courses in theory or music history have any idea what they're talking about?
* Me First and the Gimme Gimmes are geniuses. Where else can you get an all-star punk band covering Blondie's "Heart of Glass"?
* I've realized I want to play in a band with a keyboardist. I don't care if they play straight piano-style music, or just have a knack for adding in all that cool noise that keyboards can play, I have never been in a band with a legitimate keyboardist. I'm very curious. Then again, I've hardly played in bands with a "legitimate" vocalist either. (Mel, if you're reading this, I think you're legit as all hell, but we've only played one show so far)
* I think Colin Meloy and Ben Gibbard were separated at birth. They both have great bands and unique voices. They both do solo acoustic tours. Plus, they both have that "indie hair sweep" down perfectly, along with the chunky glasses. I mean, see for yourself. Try to tell me I'm not right:
Eerie, isn't it? I guess I know what I have to do if I want to become a cool indie frontman -- straighten the hair, wear glasses all the time, wear western shirts, and play an acoustic.
* Early nineties "alternative" is every bit as good today as it was when it was first released. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, early Weezer, Jawbreaker, Failure -- all these albums I have from the early and mid nineties are still awesome.
* Eels is one of the most underrated bands of the last ten to fifteen years. They are the modern day Pixies. I think that E has gotten a little over-eccentric in the past few years, and while the acoustic Live at Town Hall album is good, it ain't "Beautiful Freak" or "Daisies of the Galaxy". Still, those kids set the table for a lot of modern indie bands.
I could keep going, but I've been at this for too long, and if you made it this far in one sitting, I commend you. Guess this kind of makes up for my last few days of scarcity, huh?
Oh, and in unrelated news, I saw a guy at the coffee shop tonight who was eerily like me -- he pulled his iPod and book out of a Chrome messenger bag, had plastic frame glasses, and either read or poked on his laptop while tapping his foot to whatever he was listening to at the time. It's one of those people where if it weren't weird, I'd introduce myself to because I'm pretty sure we'd have a hell of a lot in common. Oh well.
No comments:
Post a Comment